Friday, June 4, 2004

DOT: Hwy. 54 widening to begin ‘soon’ July 2006 set as completion date for key traffic fix By JOHN MUNFORD jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com Commuters heading to Fayette and Coweta counties got some good news this week. A contractor has been selected by the Georgia Department of Transportation to construct the widening of Ga. Highways 54 and 34 from Ga. Highway 74 in Peachtree City to Fisher Road in Coweta County. E.R. Snell Contractor of Snellville was awarded the project for $14.02 million, said DOT spokesperson Dorothy Daniel. A large chunk of the funds will cover the work necessary for bridges over Line Creek and the railroad tracks on the Peachtree City side of the project, Daniel said. It will take an estimated two years to finish the road widening project, Daniel said. Once complete, the highways will have two additional lanes, one in each direction, to handle traffic on the oft-clogged artery between Fayette and Coweta counties. “We’ll have a preconstruction conference in the very near future and then we’ll be ready to get to work,” Daniel said. Right of way acquisition has been completed and work is already underway on the Coweta County side of the project, Daniel said. The contracting firm of Bruce Albea is working on the land clearing and pipe laying on the Coweta side, Daniel said. The Fayette side was delayed by condemnation proceedings on 14 of 61 parcels the DOT needed to acquire in the pre-construction phase, officials said. State Sen. Mitch Seabaugh, who represents part of Fayette and Coweta counties, said he was “ecstatic” that the project is making headway. “I’m looking forward to when people can travel between Newnan and Peachtree City much quicker than they can now,” Seabaugh said. “It really adds to your quality of life whenever you can get to where you want to go much quicker.”

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